BSkyB directors’ News Corp links under the spotlight

Tuesday 15 June 2010 11:33 BST

Back seat: James Murdoch has kept himself away from the bid talks

Nick Ferguson and the other seven independent directors of BSkyB, who are negotiating with News Corp over a possible sale price, will face intense scrutiny because of the assumption that they are too close to News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch was chairman until 2007 when he was replaced by his son James who moved from chief executive. Ferguson approved the transition despite it being against corporate governance rules.

Those close to Sky today insisted that the fact the board has rebuffed offers at 675p and 700p from News Corp is proof of the non-executives' independence. Ferguson also became deputy chairman today.

Sky's board is a roll-call of the great and the good: Ferguson himself is chairman of private equity group SVG Capital.

The other three independent directors have US roots: former Ford chief executive Jacques Nasser, ex-Crown Media boss David Evans and venture capitalist Daniel Rimer of Index Ventures.

Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch and finance director Andrew Griffith also sit on the board and are involved in the bid talks, but other directors with News Corp links, including James Murdoch, have taken a back seat.